Rojo Mexican Bistro says adios to Partridge Creek

Message on answering service indicates it will re-open elsewhere on M-59

By
Mitch Hotts, The Macomb Daily

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Rojo Mexican Bistro has quietly closed its store at the Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, the second anchor restaurant to leave the outdoor shopping center this year.

“Yes, they did in fact close last Sunday evening,” Melissa Morang, marketing director for the mall, confirmed in an email on Sunday afternoon, referring to Rojo’s July 6 departure.

A message on the restaurant’s answering machine indicates Rojo owners plan to relocate in a new location on M-59 later this summer or the early fall, but provides no additional information. The company’s website makes no mention of its closure.

Rojo’s three locations in Oakland County -- Birmingham, Novi and Rochester -- are still open.

Rojo Mexican Bistro was founded in 2008 by Joe Vicari, president and CEO of the Andiamo restaurant group, and Dan Linnen, a former partner in the venture who opened the first Rojo in Novi.

Linnen has since purchased the other Rojo outlets. He completed the purchase of the Rojo at Partridge Creek last October, according to Dominic Vicari, a former general manager at Rojo, and the son of Joe Vicari.

Linnen could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Rojo made its debut at Partridge Creek in 2011, along with the former Andiamo Lakefront Bistro on Jefferson Avenue in St. Clair Shores. The St. Clair Shores location became a Captain Jack’s Lakefront Bar in 2013.

Rojo officials in the past said there was a void in southeastern Michigan for midrange Mexican food. Rojo boasted 100-plus tequila choices and was known for its tableside guacamole.

Workers at competing restaurants at Partridge Creek said they were told Rojo had trouble paying its rent in recent months.

That was the same reason the Tin Fish restaurant/nightclub at Partridge Creek shut down this past winter. It has been vacant since then, as mall officials say their leasing team continues to explore options to fill the space.

On Sunday, Morang did not comment on what would happen to the Rojo location, but other workers in the mall say they’ve heard rumors that both a Cheesecake Factory and a Royal Oak-based pub Blackfinn are coming to Partridge Creek.

In May, the Detroit Free Press reported B Spot Burgers was planning to open at Partridge Creek, but mall officials have declined to comment on any of the reports.

The 612,000-square-foot mall that has 90 stores and restaurants was sold by Taubman Centers of Bloomfield Hills, along with a handful of other shopping centers, earlier this summer.

Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Capital Group acquired the open-air mall for $1.4 billion, according to Taubman.